In recent years, digital print technology has become widespread. Because the digital print does not need a plate, it is easy to produce small quantity print jobs, and it is convenient for small quantity production on short notice. Digital print technology allows for the printing of general printed matter such as a photograph or magazine by analog print with approximately equal quality. However, problems for digital print technology remain with regard to thick film screen printing. There is the problem that the types of ink materials and recording media can be limited. There is much promise in the thick film screen printing, and thick film printing should allow for the printing of image information that is other than that of a normal printing. Therefore, with the thick film screen printing, it is important to have many choices of materials that can be used, such as the ink to form a pattern, and recording media. For example, screen-printing technology that uses analog thick film screen printing technology can form part of the print image thick film and raises design value, and can print electric circuits using conductivity ink. In contrast, a UV-IJ (ink-jet) method, which is known for digital print as a means for thick film screen printing, and the electronograph method, each limit the materials such as the ink that can be used to form a pattern. For example, the pattern formation materials are limited to photopolymers which an ink-jet method can eject if it is UV-IJ.
In thick film screen printing, it has been suggested to raise the degree of freedom of a material used for the pattern formation. According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-305488 a method for thick film screen printing using ink has been disclosed in which a thermoplastic resin is applied on printed ink before the ink is dried and the thermoplastic resin is heated to melt the thermoplastic resin.
However, as the ink for ink-jet is typically of low viscosity, and as the ink drop ejected by a nozzle is typically absorbed in a recording medium immediately to prevent beading, it is difficult to have powder materials fix on the ink. Furthermore, even if it is possible to have powder materials fix on the ink, a big limitation is that it may be possible to make a pattern only on a recording medium having good ink absorbency.